Family of Woman Frozen Alive Given the ‘OK’ to Sue Hospital

The family of a woman who was falsely pronounced dead back in 2010 is now taking legal action by suing Boyle Heights’ White Memorial Medical Center, the hospital held responsible. After being pronounced dead, 80-year-old Maria de Jesus Arroyo was put into a freezer, only to be found face-down a couple of days later with cuts, bruises, as well as a broken nose.

Though Arroyo’s family believed the injuries were a result of her body being mishandled, a pathologist strongly believes that they are highly likely a result of her waking up in the freezer and struggling to escape the frozen tomb, according to the L.A. Times.

After withdrawing the mishandling lawsuit the family had initially filed, Scott Schutzman, the family’s attorney, refiled a second case in May 2012 stating that the hospital had allegedly mistakenly pronounced Arroyo dead and went on to freeze her while she was still alive.

The second lawsuit was thrown out after a Los Angeles trial judge stated that the second lawsuit was filed in too late of a manner, exceeding the one-year statute of limitations after Arroyo’s injuries were discovered by her family.

On Wednesday the lawsuit was overturned with the appellate justices expressing, “Plaintiffs had absolutely no reason to suspect that the decedent was alive rather than dead when placed in the Hospital morgue and when the disfiguring injuries occurred.”

The case is soon set to return to the Los Angeles County Supreme Court.